Asserting that the state did not get any recognition from any quarters due to social liability, medical and health & family welfare minister, Kuzholuzo said it was only through the introduction of VDB and Communitisation that Nagaland achieved recognition even from United Nations. “The award speaks volumes of the effort put in by many individuals,” he said addressing the closing function of the VDB and Communitisation conference held from November 30 - December 1 at Ganeshnagar, Dimapur.
Azo however told the delegates not to be complacent but put in more efforts to improve further. He said the failures and loopholes in the system should be seriously studied and make improvements upon it. He also welcomed any constructive criticism and urged upon the gathering to stop blame game.
Azo said the conference was all about empowering the rural mass and shifting of powers and responsibility from government to the grass root level. “You are the people who can go and convince the people in your villages and take drastic steps” he told the delegates.
On the erroneous census report of 2001, Azo questioned the level of honesty prevalent in the Naga society adding “We can no longer be trusted as a community.” He urged the delegates to provide correct census so that various development plans could be carried out without any difficulty. He also called upon the people to preserve the wildlife and ban burning of jungles in order to maintain ecological balance.
Earlier, parliamentary secretary for RD and REPA, Pangyu Phom said the two-day conference should bear positive results. He said the state would achieve development within the next 10-20 years if the communitised villages could learn from the performing ones. He also urged the delegates to cooperate with the government machineries so that by “Vision 2020” the state would become the most advanced state in the country.
Chief minister Neiphiu Rio who inaugurated the conference on Monday had urged the VDBs to focus on achieving excellence by competing with one another at block and district levels. He said such competitiveness would encourage performing ones while the government would deal with those non-performing ones. Former chief secretary and currently secretary ministry of petroleum and natural gas government of India, R. S. Pandey also attended the conference.